In 1904 Sanz˘ Wada graduated from the Western-style painting division of the Tokyo School of Fine Arts. Between 1907 and 1915 he studied in Europe, and he also travelled to India and Burma. While he was in France he was part of Yamamoto Kanae's circle. He exhibited paintings at the Bunten and Teiten, where he also became a judge. From 1932 he taught at the Tokyo School of Fine Arts. His most well-known series of woodblock prints on the occupations of Sh˘wa was begun in September 1938. It was discontinued in 1943 (after 48 designs), and 24 more were published between 1954-1958.